Chiral condensate in hadronic matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates the temperature dependence of the chiral condensate in hadronic matter with 2+1 flavors using the hadron resonance gas model combined with models based on quark structure and gauge/gravity duality, highlighting the different restoration temperatures for light and strange quarks.

Contribution

It introduces a combined approach using hadron resonance gas, quark structure models, and gauge/gravity duality to analyze chiral symmetry restoration in hadronic matter.

Findings

Chiral symmetry restoration occurs at higher temperatures in the strange quark sector.

Results are consistent with recent lattice QCD data.

Highlights the relevance for heavy-ion collision models.

Abstract

The finite temperature chiral condensate for 2+1 quark flavors is considered in the framework of the hadron resonance gas model. This requires some dynamical information, for which two models are employed: one based on the quark structure of hadrons combined with the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio approach to chiral symmetry breaking, and one originating from gauge/gravity duality. Using these insights, hadronic sigma terms are discussed in the context of recent first principles results following from lattice QCD and chiral perturbation theory. For the condensate, in generic agreement with lattice data it is found that chiral symmetry restoration in the strange quark sector takes place at higher temperatures than in the light quark sector. The importance of this result for a recently proposed dynamical model of hadronic freeze-out in heavy-ion collisions is outlined.